Redgra, sometimes styled as RedGra, Red-Gra, or generically as redgra, is the brand name of an all-weather surfacing material primarily composed of red clay and fine limestone gravel. It is used on baseball diamonds, [1] running tracks [2] and long jump run-ups, and hard-surface association football, netball, cricket, and field hockey pitches in the United Kingdom.
Outdoor field hockey in the United Kingdom during the 1910s and 1920s often relied on heavy clay surfaces that were unplayable after heavy rain or under frost. Teams would fall back to more durable, but harsher, tarmac surfaces. [3]
To address this, tennis court contractors Grimshaw Sports developed Redgra in 1959 by adapting the company's existing mix used for tennis courts. The limestone and clay were sourced from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The material was designed for the United Kingdom's first all-weather outdoor field hockey pitches. [4] One of the first academic applications was opened on 4 March 1961 at Dean Close School under the recommendation of Olympic field hockey bronze medalist Denys Carnill for the school's field hockey team. [5] A Redgra area was opened in October 1961 at the site of Harlow Sportcentre, which was completed in 1964. [6] In 1964, the Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre included a Redgra training area and separate football practice pitch. [7]
Redgra also saw use in other pavement applications, such as garden paths [8] and car parks. [9]
Redgra can be applied similarly to sand, binds itself when wet and compacted, and solidifies after 24 hours. [8] As a sports surface, Redgra allowed for year-round use with minimal maintenance in academic and practice settings, and allowed for multi-sport use as tennis courts. Its natural components were inexpensive and simple to install. A Redgra field hockey pitch installed at Cranleigh School and opened on 1 February 1968 cost £4,500 for materials and lasted until 2005. The resulting surface was porous, allowing for easy drainage, and frost-resistant. [3] [10] Pat Ward-Thomas, a writer for The Guardian, noted that contemporary surfaces often failed to provide smooth, precise, and predictable ball movement but praised the Redgra pitch's performance. [10]
While competitive teams still often favored playing on well-maintained grass surfaces, Redgra surfaces sometimes substituted when rain or poor maintenance made grass unsuitable. [11] [12] [13]
Redgra also saw use in playground football, youth clubs, and some women's [14] and lower-tier men's [15] football clubs into the 1990s. The first training pitch for Chelsea Ladies F.C. in 1992, then composed mostly of under-18 players, was a Redgra surface at a community college near Feltham. [16]
Even upon its unveiling, Redgra was considered adequate for training surfaces but questionable as a full-time competitive surface. [17] Redgra has a reputation for causing abrasions and splinters when sliding on it compared to grass, [3] [18] and its hardness contributed to injuries when falling on it. When dry, the surface generated considerable amounts of red dust. [19] The surface could become alternately sticky and slippery in frosty conditions, [20] and if improperly drained could become muddy. [8]
Since the 1990s, many Redgra installations for field hockey and association football have been supplanted by newer all-weather surfaces, such as artificial turf, that are more similar to natural grass or have impact-cushioning layers. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] However, it remains in use for public recreation tracks. [2]
While an artificial surface, Redgra's natural components don't present the same concerns to landfills upon disposal as rubber or other synthetic surfaces. [26]
The areas denuded of grass were then covered with several inches of RedGra. This material, for those unacquainted with it, is a mixture of sand and fine gravel. The nearest thing I could locate to proper clay was pulverized brick dust, which was quoted to me at over £1,000 per tonne. RedGra was good enough, although one needed to be pretty Pete Rose-style gung-ho to slide on it.
The Redgra warm-up area for athletics and a practise pitch (100 yds. x 50 yds.) in the same material add yet another vivid splash of colour to the scheme.
Our final paths, in the Jewel garden, are topped with a material called Redgra. This is a kind of pink sand with an element of clay that binds it solid when laid. You prepare the path with hardcore and a layer of scalpings, then spread a thin layer of this binding surface which you bang in with a whacker plate. It goes on almost as sand, but after 24 hours it is pretty solid. It is much cheaper and easier to lay than paving or brick, but if it doesn't have really sharp drainage it can get almost muddy in very wet weather and has less integral character.
LICHFIELD 4th XI travelled to Telford and despite a difficult game on a redgra pitch managed to find the winning way again.
People are now suggesting that League clubs should play on Red-gra all-weather pitches, such as the one we have been using at Lilleshall. But I don't relish the thought. Make no mistake, these pitches in fact are ideal for training, but not, I fancy, for League warfare.
I started on grass pitches and then played the old shale/Redgra pitches until I was 18. I've still got all the scars on my fingers and knees which I carry with pride.
Two of the Temworth players had falls on the extremely dry and dusty Woodhouse redgra pitch. Sue Chappell, who scored a brilliant goal in an earlier game, fell heavily in her last match and was taken off.
The Redgra pitch was laid some 25 years ago and at the time was the very latest, state-of-the-art, playing surface. Now it has been replaced by the Astro, which is expected to last ten years.
Redgra, sometimes styled as RedGra, Red-Gra, or generically as redgra, is the brand name of an all-weather surfacing material primarily composed of red clay and fine limestone gravel. It is used on baseball diamonds, [1] running tracks [2] and long jump run-ups, and hard-surface association football, netball, cricket, and field hockey pitches in the United Kingdom.
Outdoor field hockey in the United Kingdom during the 1910s and 1920s often relied on heavy clay surfaces that were unplayable after heavy rain or under frost. Teams would fall back to more durable, but harsher, tarmac surfaces. [3]
To address this, tennis court contractors Grimshaw Sports developed Redgra in 1959 by adapting the company's existing mix used for tennis courts. The limestone and clay were sourced from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The material was designed for the United Kingdom's first all-weather outdoor field hockey pitches. [4] One of the first academic applications was opened on 4 March 1961 at Dean Close School under the recommendation of Olympic field hockey bronze medalist Denys Carnill for the school's field hockey team. [5] A Redgra area was opened in October 1961 at the site of Harlow Sportcentre, which was completed in 1964. [6] In 1964, the Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre included a Redgra training area and separate football practice pitch. [7]
Redgra also saw use in other pavement applications, such as garden paths [8] and car parks. [9]
Redgra can be applied similarly to sand, binds itself when wet and compacted, and solidifies after 24 hours. [8] As a sports surface, Redgra allowed for year-round use with minimal maintenance in academic and practice settings, and allowed for multi-sport use as tennis courts. Its natural components were inexpensive and simple to install. A Redgra field hockey pitch installed at Cranleigh School and opened on 1 February 1968 cost £4,500 for materials and lasted until 2005. The resulting surface was porous, allowing for easy drainage, and frost-resistant. [3] [10] Pat Ward-Thomas, a writer for The Guardian, noted that contemporary surfaces often failed to provide smooth, precise, and predictable ball movement but praised the Redgra pitch's performance. [10]
While competitive teams still often favored playing on well-maintained grass surfaces, Redgra surfaces sometimes substituted when rain or poor maintenance made grass unsuitable. [11] [12] [13]
Redgra also saw use in playground football, youth clubs, and some women's [14] and lower-tier men's [15] football clubs into the 1990s. The first training pitch for Chelsea Ladies F.C. in 1992, then composed mostly of under-18 players, was a Redgra surface at a community college near Feltham. [16]
Even upon its unveiling, Redgra was considered adequate for training surfaces but questionable as a full-time competitive surface. [17] Redgra has a reputation for causing abrasions and splinters when sliding on it compared to grass, [3] [18] and its hardness contributed to injuries when falling on it. When dry, the surface generated considerable amounts of red dust. [19] The surface could become alternately sticky and slippery in frosty conditions, [20] and if improperly drained could become muddy. [8]
Since the 1990s, many Redgra installations for field hockey and association football have been supplanted by newer all-weather surfaces, such as artificial turf, that are more similar to natural grass or have impact-cushioning layers. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] However, it remains in use for public recreation tracks. [2]
While an artificial surface, Redgra's natural components don't present the same concerns to landfills upon disposal as rubber or other synthetic surfaces. [26]
The areas denuded of grass were then covered with several inches of RedGra. This material, for those unacquainted with it, is a mixture of sand and fine gravel. The nearest thing I could locate to proper clay was pulverized brick dust, which was quoted to me at over £1,000 per tonne. RedGra was good enough, although one needed to be pretty Pete Rose-style gung-ho to slide on it.
The Redgra warm-up area for athletics and a practise pitch (100 yds. x 50 yds.) in the same material add yet another vivid splash of colour to the scheme.
Our final paths, in the Jewel garden, are topped with a material called Redgra. This is a kind of pink sand with an element of clay that binds it solid when laid. You prepare the path with hardcore and a layer of scalpings, then spread a thin layer of this binding surface which you bang in with a whacker plate. It goes on almost as sand, but after 24 hours it is pretty solid. It is much cheaper and easier to lay than paving or brick, but if it doesn't have really sharp drainage it can get almost muddy in very wet weather and has less integral character.
LICHFIELD 4th XI travelled to Telford and despite a difficult game on a redgra pitch managed to find the winning way again.
People are now suggesting that League clubs should play on Red-gra all-weather pitches, such as the one we have been using at Lilleshall. But I don't relish the thought. Make no mistake, these pitches in fact are ideal for training, but not, I fancy, for League warfare.
I started on grass pitches and then played the old shale/Redgra pitches until I was 18. I've still got all the scars on my fingers and knees which I carry with pride.
Two of the Temworth players had falls on the extremely dry and dusty Woodhouse redgra pitch. Sue Chappell, who scored a brilliant goal in an earlier game, fell heavily in her last match and was taken off.
The Redgra pitch was laid some 25 years ago and at the time was the very latest, state-of-the-art, playing surface. Now it has been replaced by the Astro, which is expected to last ten years.